Using Vinegar as a Rinse Agent

We have hard water at our house. In turn we have to use a rinse agent in the dishwasher. But, then again, who doesn’t? Otherwise you risk the possibility of getting goopey oatmeal stuck to everything in there.

And personally, I always bought the more expensive kind of commercial rinse agent offered(since I used to be a plastic junkie and all, and I wanted those containers dry). Now, I use vinegar. I love it. I’ve been using it for a few weeks now and have rarely had to rewash a dish because of gunk. And if I do, it’s only that one dish, as the gunk did not spread to everything else. I’m sold!

Here’s how to replace vinegar with your old rinse agent:

1. Use up all of the commercial rinse agent in your dishwasher first.
2. Unscrew the cap inside your washer and fill with vinegar all the way up to the full line.
3. Screw cap back in.
4. Close washer and run! Then just keep refilling with vinegar.

Vinegar works just as good, if not better, than commercial agents. You get:

1. Clear glasses with no spots.
2. Dry dishes (even plastic. well, most of the time. sometimes a dish or 2 is damp)
3. Cleaner dishes. Seriously, my dishes have actually looked cleaner!

Plus, you’re not using any harsh chemicals that get stuck to your dishes and then get transferred to your food. And this is probably one of the cheapest/frugal things I’ve done in order to try and keep my home chemical free! A few ounces of vinegar literally costs just pennies on the dollar.